The human players get to choose from 12 different ships of varying stats, such as cargo hold and speed.

There are also six computer opponents who are active each game (regardless of the number of human players). They are given different personalities that apparently describe their AI patterns. However, their ships are never shown.

What kinds of ships do they use? Are they all different from each other, or do they use a standard model? Do they relate to their personalities? Are they comparable to the human player ships? Do the AI opponents even follow the actual rules of the game in the first place?

1 Answer
1

As far as I know, the only way to see an opponents ship is when it's mentioned in an event. E.g. when you get a message, that an opponent upgraded his vessel.
At least that's how it was in the old version from 90s.

The AIs use the same ships as you do and follow the exact same rules. It is randomly determined which AI gets which ship. It's likely that the AI starts with several upgrades on higher difficulties, but I can'st say for certain.
You can only see their stats, when they upgrade (e.g. Hoff Meister upgraded his tonnage to 110 tons. You'll also see which ship he uses in this screen.)

This does not answer the question. Even if that is the only way to "see" the stats of their ships, they still have stats. I would suspect that there is a way to figure out the details by paying careful attention, or by hacking the game to read its memory.
– Southpaw HareMar 20 '16 at 3:17

I answered your question as it is stated in the title. I updated it with the addional inof you requested now.
– DulkanMar 20 '16 at 19:39